Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Kill WiFiKill with Wifi Protector

WiFiKill turns Android phones into rogue access points that can hijack your WiFi to break your internet, spy on you, steal passwords, and more. And there are other apps that do the same evil things.

But you can fight back! Wifi Protector looks for suspicious network behaviour and warns you when things smell fishy. If your phone is rooted, it can protect you against attacks in addition to warning you.

Wifi Protector doesn't always detect bad access points. It knows when a good access point turns bad, but it won't protect you if the network is already compromised when you connect to it for the first time. If a known network (or the network at your office or school) goes bad Wifi Protector will usually do the job, but when you walk into a coffeeshop with an unknown network already under attack Wifi Protector doesn't always see the danger.

Even though it's a bit leaky, Wifi Protector adds an extra layer of security which is better than nothing, and the latest update gives you a chance to detect an ongoing attack. Just keep in mind that it shouldn't be used as a substitute for your brain. The same goes for all security apps, because no safety net is completely without holes.

Autostart is optional. If you move out of a suspect location into a safe place the background service keeps running. Wifi Protector eats a lot of memory (and causes a bit of network traffic), so if you want to save memory and battery you'll have to close it yourself. The off switch is hidden in the menu of the expert mode screen. It would be better if there was an off button in the main screen.

Wifi Protector costs a euro if you get it from the Android Market, but it's free if you download it from the xda forum.